The present invention relates to a hemolyzing tube containing a blood dissolving liquid and relates also to a method of preparing a hemolysis blood sample within the hemolyzing tube, wherein a very small amount of blood is diluted in the liquid for the purpose of clinical examinations.
In general, clinical blood examinations including an analytical measurement of hemoglobin are important in diagnostic determinations of diabetes, kidney or renal troubles and the like diseases. In the case of hemoglobin measurement, syringes, evacuated blood-collecting tubes or the like are used at first to take blood samples that will then be transferred into certain preparatory test tubes. Subsequently, a small prescribed amount of the blood sample is sucked into a micropipet, a spoid or the like itemizer, prior to injection of the sample into a standard test tube. A required amount of a blood dissolving liquid will have been provided in the standard test tube so that a regular sample of a regulated concentration is prepared in this tube. The regular sample will then be subjected to so-called high speed liquid chromatography (viz., HPLC method) to determine the quantity and/or quality of hemoglobin. In another case, a required small amount of the collected blood sample will be diluted with water so as to convert hemoglobin into oxyhemoglobin. Absorptiometric analysis will be conducted on such a diluted sample in order to detect absorption at a wavelength of 540 nm also for the same purposes as above.
General prior art methods of preparing dissolved blood samples are, however, disadvantageous from various points of view. Each amount of raw blood sample is exposed to ambient air during preparation, thereby causing not only pollution of said sample with air but also possibly scattering it to adjacent objects. In the case of using the evacuated blood sampling tubes, it has been necessary for medical service persons to remove a rubber stopper from each sampling tube at first, before using a micropipet to suck a small required amount of blood. Such an operation has been intricate and required much labor particularly to intently watch fine scales on the micropipet. If spoids are additionally used, then variable finger pressure will vary amounts of squeezed blood drops, thus bringing about a noticeable inaccuracy in results of the following hematoscopy test.